It had been 58 international competitions that the Team USA Basketball program competed and won, and to the rest of the world, it seemed like a lone formality to let the USA’s NBA-riddled roster to run amuck on its opposition. International games were perceived as proverbial NBA showcases with All-NBA First Team members usually decimating whatever country they faced, as the USA often finished winning those matchups by double-digit margins.
And they just lost their first international competition in those 58 outings against a heavily-touted French National Team by 10 points during the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup. Their best player and one of the two all-stars, Kemba Walker, scored only 10 points on 22% shooting. While guarded by Knicks guard Frank Ntilikina who has struggled to assert himself as a worthy first-round selection in his short time in the NBA. Not quite a good look.
Maligned by a sparse majority of biased prognosticators on social media and from a few news media outlets, Team USA Basketball – or as some called them the “Team USA Celtics” as about one-fourth of the roster contained Celtic teammates – received a lot of unwarranted criticism as the roster was significantly more inept than previous World Cup and Olympic teams.
And yet, Team USA won all of its group stage games by wide margins, largely in part to the high scoring of Donovan Mitchell, but more so the defensive prowess of Marcus Smart, the versatility of a Jayson Tatum and athleticism and potential of a Jaylen Brown.
While Smart provided his contribution of 11 points and Jaylen Brown scored 9 in the loss, there are both validities for optimism of the Celtics’ young core of Tatum (who did not play due to a left sprained ankle) and Brown who will both see an increase of touches and drawn-up plays this upcoming season, and concern for how well, or if, the Celtics are able to seamlessly mesh and score the ball consistently with Kemba being in the same pressurized, media-ridden position that made Kyrie Irving want to flee to Brooklyn.
When looking at the Celtics core next season after getting a short preview this summer from the new Boston big four, you could see that there is a reason for Celtics fans to be excited about what they will witness this year. Yet, their success is incumbent on the quartet’s consistency and chemistry once the real competition begins, and how they stack up defensively against a saturated Eastern conference.
On an overall examination of Kemba’s first visible impact with his new teammates during team USA’s efforts in the World Cup, his game on Wednesday were not an accurate reflection of his effect on the floor. Though limited to his lowest scoring output of the tournament, Kemba accumulated a total of 83 points throughout the tournament while averaging a little over 13 PPG with another game against Serbia in the coming days. Similar to Kyrie, his ability to create off the dribble while being a playmaker in opening the floor in the halfcourt will be a key component of Boston’s success.
Looking Ahead At The Future Of USA Basketball
It is no secret this World Cup displayed a talent-deficient and uncharacteristically-inexperienced team compared to its predecessors that were awash with gold-medal accolades and spotless records. The United States’ participation in the FIBA World Cup has almost always featured at least five, or six, NBA All-Stars that were unanimously dubbed the most dominant in their position.
To USA Basketball, winning the World Cup was as easy as getting the Sunday paper from off the front porch. Now, add in the fears of injury during inconvenient times of approaching seasons, and what you may have are lackluster rosters with little to no all-star talent.
A shocking revelation? An inconceivable, unbecoming occurrence to the most esteemed basketball development program on the planet? Both points hold water.
I mean, it was a non-issue back during the 2014 FIBA World Cup, back when both the Splash Brothers, Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, James Harden, and other league titans suited up for the World Cup without hesitation.
Diffident perceptions and anxieties have arisen from the likes of the league’s best American-born players, seeing the likelihood of a Paul George-Esque injury becoming reality, and their claims have validity. Obviously, next summer will be a completely different story as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics roll around, and Team USA’s roster will see its four-year influx of superstars donning the red, white and blue in what may be the most intimidating roster that USA Basketball will ever put out.
It is not a new trend for franchise cornerpieces to pull out of international competition, as their health and recovery in time for training camp have always been viable factors in their decision making.
But one can only wonder, can this increasingly-apparent fad be the future fate of USA Basketball, where the league’s most outstanding players will opt out of playing for their country in favor of conditioning for an upcoming season, leaving the difficult task of beating the world’s best to reserves who otherwise would not even be considered to be bench pieces on an Olympic roster?
The jury is still on the fence as to whether NBA superstars should be obligated to take to the court for their native land as notable NBA standouts of different nationalities compete to their heart’s content for theirs.
Most notably, the current league’s Most Valuable Player and the 5th person in league history to win the award as a foreigner, Giannis Antetokounmpo played all World Cup games for his native Greece, whereas former league MVPs and superstars like James Harden, Steph Curry, and Russell Westbrook choose to not represent their country by playing on the world’s largest stage.
And on that topic, are we forgetting that just a little under a month ago, the Women’s National Soccer Team and the best female players on the planet (while heavily favored) gave their all to win their fourth world cup in a grueling, three-week tournament that showcased the best footballers in the world, all while returning to play in dually competitive fixtures such as the National Women’s Soccer League just days later?
Sure, consider it a factor of unimportance, citing this as just “another World Cup” to guys who are only making sure their bodies are in tip-top shape for another year.
Yet their lies an underlying fear that is festering in the minds of those who want to see their country succeed at the highest level. Fans can only hope that this trend of superstars planning not to play in World Cups will be short-lived and not a repetitive occurrence, to the point where they question if the league’s most prominent players apprehend to place value an Olympic Gold Medal over large quantities of money and “rest”.
